Over yonder

I've had a lifelong relationship with Highway 19, which weaves its way from the Arkansas border near Thayer all the way to Hannibal. But I didn't realize until last weekend how much there is to see if you take a few side trips off this scenic route.

Once upon a time, I would take Highway 19 south from the Missouri River on my way to my favorite hometown in the Ozarks over yonder. It's a pretty drive anytime, but when the dogwoods are blooming it's a welcome diversion from the bumper-to-bumper frenzy of the St. Louis area.

Last weekend my wife and I decided to make a day trip to the Eminence area and visit some of the attractions. How many times have we seen the signs for Blue Spring or Alley Spring or Rocky Falls without ever taking the time to visit? We can assure you it's worth the effort.

Eminence is the county seat of Shannon County, a destination that has been part of my family's lore for several generations. My mother's Uncle Ed -- maybe he was a great-uncle -- and his wife owned the first automobile on Brushy Creek where my mother grew up. Soon after they got the car, they headed off on a journey that lasted a month. When they returned, everyone on the valley gathered to hear about the trip. Uncle Ed said they had been "all the way to Shannon County" -- under 50 miles. Considering there were no highways a century ago and Shannon County's rugged terrain and multiple creeks and rivers, Uncle Ed was probably glad to be alive to tell his story.

Our first pleasant surprise on the way to Winona to hook up with Highway 19 was to find that the four-laning of U.S. 60 between Van Buren and Winona is complete. Getting there from Cape Girardeau is a breeze.

At Winona, we turned off Highway 19 and followed the signs to Rocky Falls. Caution: Some of the National Park Service signs are missing, like the one telling us to turn off Route H onto Route NN. A couple of gravel roads later and we were at the parking lot for the falls.

When we left home, we wondered if the places we were about to visit would be overrun with campers and floaters and swimmers. As it turned out, there weren't any crowds anywhere.

Rocky Falls is where Rocky Creek tumbles over a shut-in rock face into a large circular pool that's ideal for swimming.

We went back to Highway 19 and north to Eminence, where we turned west on Highway 106 to reach Alley Spring. This spring has an old mill that's open for tours plus a great walk around the 81 million-gallon-a-day spring.

Then it was back to Eminence and east on Highway 106 to Blue Spring, which also involves a gravel road and a half-mile hike from the parking lot. The trail goes along the Current River for a bit and then follows the spring branch to the spring itself. Blue Spring is the deepest spring in Missouri. A sign said if the Statue of Liberty were put into the spring, its torch would be 5 feet underwater. I swear I could see to the bottom of the clear, cold water.

The drive home took use through Ellington and then to back to U.S. 60. We agreed it has been a great day -- and we still haven't seen all the sights of Shannon County. Uncle Ed probably saw more than we did.

jsullivan@semissourian.com